Garment supporter



Oct. 6, 1931. s. N. COULTER GARMET SUPPORTS!! Filed Jan. 18. 1930 INVENTOR 50ml/JLM 00a/fer E Y g I9.

Patented Oct. 6, 1931 narran srares SAMUEL N. ocurran, or Los ANGnLEsQcALironNiA GlliRT/IENT SUPPORTER Application filed January 18, 1930. Serial No. 421,760.

This invention relates to garment supporters and while features of the invention adapt the improvement for use with garment supporters or suspenders of different types,

the invention is especially applicable in the construction of garters. tice to construct a mans garter with an encircling band of elastic webbing or rubber. AWhen so constructed, the entire band is constantly in tension when the garter is worn and the elastic quality ofthe band gradually diminishes,finally rendering the garter useless. lt has .been attempted to construct mens garters ofr an unelastic, substantially .funezrtensible material such as a broad band .of leather. These garters perform their function fairly well but, due to the fact that they have no elasticity, `when worn they tend towworl; further and further down on ones 2o calf, eventually becoming so tight as to preventproper circulation and so as to become uncomfortable.

@ne of the reasons why' the elastic band loses its elasticity so rapidly is that there is no limit to the amount of stretching to which the garter band may be subjected.

The general object of this invention .is to produce a garter which will overcome these diiculties.

vide a garter having a construction which will develop forces in the garter tending to prevent the .same from sagging down on ones calf, as suggested above, and also constructed in such a way as to maintain the elasticity in 5U The invention consists in the novel parts It has been the prac- A further object ofthe invention is to pro- 'webbingg light leather or similar material.

and'combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all ofwhich contribute toproduce an efficient garter.

. A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective of a garter embodying my invention. This gure illustrates amans garterV and represents a portion of the leg carrying it.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through anotherembodiment of my garter, and eX- tendingfromone side of the pad to the loose end of the band, and furtherillustrating details of the invention.

Figure Sis a front elevation upon a larger scale, illustrating a portion of the garter illthe upper edgey of the hose l.

This garter includes a band 5 one end of which is attached to one of the pads 2 and the other end' of which carries a detachable fast ening member 6 to be attached to a detachderstood that the band itself is of substantially unextensible material such as cloth The garter is constructed in such a way that when the tension member 8 is applied to the garter, a portion 9 of the band which is overlain by the tension -member 8 will be in a slack condition, that is to say, this portion 9 '190 of the band is slightly longer than the tension member 8 when in its unextended condition. W'ith this arrangement it will be evident that when the tension comes on the garter band, the overlain portion 9 will limit the amount of extension of the tension member 8. When a garter having this feature of construction is in use, it will be evident that any tendency of the garter to expand in such a way as to permit the garter to sag further down on the calf 10 (see Figure 1) will be resisted by the tension in the tension member 8. At the same time, by reason of the unextensible nature of the portion 9 of the band, the tension member 8 cannot be unduly stretched.

The garter is preferably constructed in such a way that the length of the portion 9 can be adjusted as well as the total length of the girth of the garter. For this purpose I prefer to provide the band with an inner buckle 11 and an 'outer buckle 12. The inner buckle 11 is disposed nearer to the pad 2 than the outer buckle 12. I also prefer to employ a buckle 13 disposed quite near the pad 2 which, if desired, may be attached to the paalcxl. This buckle 13 may be fixed on the d 5 but, if desired, may be made adjustable, for which purpose it may be provided with two slots 14 and 15 through which the material of the band 5 may be looped. Between the buckles 13 and 11 the extension 9 of the band lies which is adjacent to the tension 'member 8 and which limits' the degree of tension on the tension member. y

The buckle 11 may be employed to adjust the length of the portion 9 and ail'ords means 'for adJust-ing the total length of the garter. For this purpose the buckle 11 is provided with two parallel slots 16 and 17 through which the band 5 is passed in a loo 18 passing around the center bar 19 'of this buckle. In other words, the extension 9 at its outer end is woven through the buckle so that it passes down through the slot 16 under the bar 19 and thence upwardly through the slot 17 beyond which the band forms an extension 2() the outer end of which forms a loop 21 through the buckle 12 and then passes Lback in an extension 22 which forms Va loop 23 down through the slot 16 under the bar 19 and up through the slot 17 so that the loose end 24 of the band lies between the two extensions 20 and 22. (See Figure 2).

With this described weaving of the band through the buckles, it will be'evident that by slipping the buckle 11 toward the left'on the extension 9 of the band, the length of this extension 9 between the buckles 11 and 13 can be shortened. The adjustment of the total length ofthe band 5, however, is independent of the length of the extension9 by 'reason of the fact that the length of the loose end 24 can be increased or reduced by adjusting Ithe band at the buckle 11.

The tension member 8 is preferably constructed so that it can be detachably secured on the garter and over the portion 9 of thc band. For this purpose the tension member 8 is preferably constructed as indicated in Figure 4, having a Inetal strip 25 at each end secured to it, and each metal strip is formed with a pair of integral hooks 26. These hooks are adapted to be inserted in the buckles 11 and 13 so that the bills of the hooks overlie the center bars of the buckles, the hooks being inserted through the adjacent slots of the buckles.

In the preferred form ot the invention the tension melnber 8 is formed of elastic webbing (see Figure 1) but, if desired, instead of employing webbing I may employ one or more springs 27 preferably in the form of coils the 'ends ot which are attached to hook plates 28 similar in construction to the plates 25 already described. In this embodiment of 'the invention the extension 9 lof the band 5 ietwcen the buckles prevents the springs from coming in contact with the leg and also operates to limit the stretching force to which Athe springs can be subjected.

If a garter of this gmieral type is constructed entirely of elastic webbing. it gradually loses its strength and must be eventual] y thrown away` waste of a `length of webbing sufficient to form almost the entire length of the girth of the calf where the garter is worn. With my invention, while the tension member 8 is rotecte'd from imdue stretching which might exceed its elastic li'rnit. whenever the tension member does become Worn this'does not 'result in the waste of 'the entire garter with all *the metal fittings and fastenin'gs; it is merely lnecessary to remove the Worn tension member 8 and replace it by a new tension member. Furthermore, a garter iconstructed entirely 'of a tension mcmber appears 'to have Vless capacit'7 for constricting under the action Aof the calf 'than a Hgarter constructed as -de 'i scribed above. This is important because it interferes with the capacity of 4thc garter to maintain itself at the 4lev'e'l on fthe Vcalf where it is attached. This incapacity Yof an allelastic garter to maintain jitself at Ithe point This results usually in the lun at which it is ,placed is probably due .partly to 'the relatively high Afriction that is developed between .the inner ltace ofthe elastic and the calf or the garment worn on the calf. This friction is not suflicient to 4prevent the This Y the elastic will not come in direct contact lunder Lthe action of the constricting force exerted by the tension member 8.

' The invention may be applied to a vertical elastic member such as a suspender or hose supporter suspended from a body garment. In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 5 it is adapted to be used as a vertical garter at the side of the leg and is espe-f cially adapted to be Worn by women. This garter consists of a band 29 of substantially unextensible material, a portion of which is overlain by a tension member 30 connected between buckles 3l and 32. This tension member 30 is provided with hook plates 33 having hooks 34 similar to the hooks 26 already described. If desired, the lower edge of the garment 35 may be provided with a plurality of snap buttons 36 to which the upper end of the band may be attached by means of similar snap fasteners 37. This enables the garter to be attached in any desired position.

The detachableelastic portion 8 should be constructed at its ends in such a way that its connections to the body of the garter will not become detached when the garter is taken oil and thrown down. Any suitable connection to effect this result may be employed, but in order to accomplish this in the type of end fastening I have illustrated, I prefer to provide each end plate 25 with an upwardly projecting lange 25a. Vhen this detachable eX- tensible member is in place these flanges 25a engage the inner edge of the adjacent side bar 38 of the corresponding buckle.

In addition to this, the hooks 26 are formed so that each hook presents a shoulder 26a at its back that also engages the adjacent edge of the bar 38. These iianges 25a and the shoulders 26a prevent the hooks trom becoming detached unless a considerable rotation takes place about the center bar of the buckle.

The bills of the hooks 26 project over the center bars of the buckles and fit snugly down on the garter band at these points. This is most advantageous in connection with the buckle Il, because the pressure of the hooks against the material of the garter prevents any tendency ot the band to slip through the buckle.

One of the advantages of my garter is that with the leg, and consequently it is protected from the moisture of perspiration and also is protected considerably from the heat of the leg. This is very advantageous because it prevents the moisture from deteriorating rubber when that is used as the elastic.

Garters constructed in accordance with my invention can be worn a considerable time and are very economical because the garter can be made practically new again as far as its elasticity is concerned, by removing the old elastic member 8 and substituting a new elastic member.

take, and I-V do Vnot Wish to be limited in the* practice of the'invention, nor in the claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

' What I claim'is `Y Vl. vA garter having a band of substantially unextensible materia-l, a pad attached to one end of the band andhaving means for attaching the sameto the hose, a buckle disposed relatively near to the pad and having the band woven through the same, said band havingfa loop, an outer buckle in said Yloop4 relatively far `Ifrom the pad, said band being woven back from theouter buckle and looped through the iirst-named buckle so as to present a loose end beyond the first-named buckle and projecting away from the pad, a resilient tension member connecting the pad and the first-named buckle and overlying the portion of said band between the same, said firstnamed buckle being adjustable along the band in either direction so as to vary the distance between the pad and the first-named buckle to adjust the limit oftension in the tension member, and said loose end of the band being adjustable through said first-named buckle to adjust the over all length of the band, said outer buckle having means for attaching the same to the pad.

`2. A garter having a band of substantially unextensible material, and a pair of buckles carried on said band, and a detachable resilient tension member having hooks at its ends for detachably securing the same in the said buckles and overlying the portion of said band lying between said buckles, said tension member operating to give resiliency to the entire band. Y

3. A garment supporter having a band of substantially uneXtensible material with a pair of buckles carried on said band, and a resilient tension member having a metal strap at each end with hook means passing under the adjacent side bar of the buckle and engaging over the outer side of center bar oi the buckle.

1l. A garter havinga band of substantially unextensible material with a pair of buckles carried on said band, and a resilient tension member having a plate at each end with hook means for engaging over the center bar of the corresponding buckle, and having an outwardly extending iiange for engaging the inner edge of the adjacent side bar of the buckle.

5. A garment supporter including a band, buckles thereon and a resilient member having a plate at each end, each plate having a pair of hooks for attaching the same to the buckles.

6. A garter having a band of substantially uneXtensible materialand a pair of buckles disposed apart on the said band, one of said buckles being capable of slipping along said l new band for adustng the distance betweenl the buckles, and a detachable tension member detachalnly engaging said buckles and Opereting to supply elasticity to the band, the porf 5 tion of the non-extensible band between the said buckles operating to limit the extension of the resilient means, said band having a loop beyond one of said buckles with an extension passed in a. loop around that buckle tc 'm enable the total length of the band to be adjusted.

7. A gnnnent supporter, including a band with buckles thereon, and a resilient mem ber having a plate at each end, said plates hav- 15 ing hooks for attaching the same to the buckles.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 9th day of January, 1930.

` SAMUEL N. COULTER.

lin 

